


I Look at You, And I Know Love

by LittleMsRavenclaw



Category: Buzzfeed Tasty: Eating Your Feed (Web Series), Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-21 18:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17648081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMsRavenclaw/pseuds/LittleMsRavenclaw
Summary: Adam briefly wondered if there is some ongoing Buzzfeed project that involves social experimenting of this nature and couldn’t think of any. But in trying to jump to the next logical conclusion, the result his brains came up with was: date, Andrew, error, error, early morning, extra stress – does not compute!And so, he hightailed it out of there with a quiet but firm, “No”, so fast that he was unaware of the way the lights went out of Andrew’s eyes as he sat there with a vacant stare in the face of rejection.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea about the origin story behind Adam challenging Andrew to make the Omurice, and how it led to the inception of the entire Eating Your Feed series. It was supposed to be a short and cute fic, but it kinda got away from me, and this happened. This is also the first fic I've ever written, so let me know what you think.

**Adam**

One, two, three spoonfuls of sugar makes for the perfect cup of coffee Adam has christened in his head as his ‘Breakfast coffee’, made at exactly 8.57 am every working morning. Within a month of commencing his employment at Buzzfeed, Adam has perfected the timing for consuming his disgustingly sweetened – as Steven has so loudly declared when he made a mistake of stealing a sip that one time – nectar of the gods, the sweet spot 15 minutes after the early risers of the Buzzfeed office has vacated the pantry, and 18 minutes before the latecomers would come loitering in. It saves him the trouble of having to make small talk, and to just…people in general. Because who needs that extra stress so early in the morning? Not Adam, that’s who.

Halfway through his cup of coffee, familiar footsteps can be heard approaching. Adam sighs heavily. Caffeine and sugar (well mostly sugar) induced grin instantaneously wiped off his face. In walks Andrew bearing bagels for them both. For the last few weeks his best friend has been joining him in his morning solitude. The two of them just sitting there, eating their bagels in comfortable silence. Well, it would’ve been comfortable if not for Andrew’s blatant staring. Every time he arches his eyebrow in question, Andrew would just smile and shake his head. If Adam doesn’t know him any better, he’d think that Andrew is really living up to the creepy guy persona Buzzfeed has created for him. As it was, Adam couldn’t help thinking that maybe Andrew is up to something, and he’s not sure he wants to know what that something is.

“Hey Adam, ADAM! Did you just space out on me?” asked Andrew.

“Huh? What?” Adam said, finally snapping out of his introspection.

Andrew rolled his eyes, his face portraying a familiar mixture of fondness and mild exasperation as he continued, “So like I said, there’s this new Italian place that just opened around the corner from my apartment. They have this special promotion for the first week of operation, it’s a pretty good deal, check it out,” he pulled out his phone and showed Adam a post from the restaurant’s Instagram. Adam’s brows furrowed in utter confusion as he sees the theme of said promotion.

“Umm, okay so...?”

“So, do you wanna go with me?”

Adam’s eyes widened slightly at the question, glancing at Andrew’s face before going back to the advertised promotion on his phone screen. 3 course meal, candle lights, roses, string quartet…

“Umm Drew, I think this is meant for couples?” he said to Andrew, who suddenly seemed to be too interested in the contents of his empty coffee mug. He cleared his throat before looking up at Adam with a nonchalant smile that smells strangely like faked bravado.

“Yeah, I know. That’s kinda why I’m asking you.”

“You mean like… Like a date?”

Andrew shrugged, “So, how ‘bout it? Wanna give it a shot?”

_Which part?? The restaurant or the_ date _with my freaking_ best friend _???_ Adam screamed in his head.

Adam briefly wondered if there is some ongoing Buzzfeed project that involves social experimenting of this nature and couldn’t think of any. But in trying to jump to the next logical conclusion, the result his brains came up with was: date, Andrew, error, error, early morning, extra stress – does not compute!

And so, he hightailed it out of there with a quiet but firm, “No”, so fast that he was unaware of the way the lights went out of Andrew’s eyes as he sat there with a vacant stare in the face of rejection.

 

**Steven**

 

Steven walked into the office that morning with a definite spring in his steps, looking forward to doing work _at_ the office for a change. After weeks of travelling across the country to shoot videos for Buzzfeed Multiplayer, a little downtime is just what he needs. Not that he doesn’t love all the excitement, of course, but you know what they say, too much of a good thing is not good for you. Also, he misses his Worth-it Bros.

So, an entire week of video editing, doing research, and brainstorming for upcoming projects? Sign him up, let’s do this! The girl walking past him looked at him funny, and he realized that he had been fist-pumping the air. He slowly lowered his hand and snickered at himself. Yeah, he does that sometimes. Gesticulate his thoughts. Heh. One of his quirks.

He walked to the little corner office designated for the Worth-it team and could not help but notice a distinct lack of Adam. Andrew, on the other hand, was hunched in front of his computer, working.

He greeted his friend – who seem to be in some sort of a mood – and got to work. Whatever is bugging the guy, he’d probably get over it once Adam shows up. That’s kinda how their dynamic work.

Three hours in, and still no sign of Adam. Steven is really starting to get restless. Andrew’s been doing an awesome job impersonating a brick wall, it’s so frustrating. Steven is usually the one who carries the conversation, spending hours just talking at Adam and Andrew with them just nodding and smiling, maybe throwing in a short sentence here and there in response, but today Andrew seems to be completely ignoring his presence. Which is very rude, if you ask him. And also, very out of character for Andrew.

Lunch time rolled around, and before he could say anything, Andrew got up, mumbled something about working on some stuff at the Tasty kitchens and walked away.

Huh.

Guess he’ll be having lunch with Shane and Ryan today.

 

 

Lunch with Shane and Ryan turned out to be an hour-long heated discussion about the correlation between the change of the season and the frequency of ghouls sighting in some spooky little town they visited on their last excursion. Gosh, those two really do bicker like an old married couple. It’s SOOO entertaining to watch. Then Rie came by with some cinnamon rolls she and Alix baked for a Tasty video, and Steven was reminded of their buddy Adam, the World’s Favorite Cinnamon Roll TM.

Hmm… Maybe he should just text the little guy.

 

   _Steven: Hey, man! Where have you been?_

_Adam: Around._

_Steven: Yeah, but WHERE? I’ve missed you man. I haven’t seen you in weeks!_

_Adam: It’s been 4 days, Steven, not weeks. I was hanging out with Niki._

_Steven: Pfft!! To-may-toe To-mah-toe… Just, come back to our desks later, alright?_

_We’ll work on ideas for our next episodes, the three of us, like old times!_

_Adam: …_

_Steven: Adam, come_ ON!!

_Adam: Fine._

He finished up his food and said his goodbye, wanting to head back to work before Shane and Ryan could drag him into their little marital spat, which still hasn’t ended – seriously, those two could really get into it, they didn’t even notice him sneaking the last two cinnamon rolls for Adam and Andrew.

 

When he got back to their little office, Andrew was already back at his desk, two steaming cups of coffee by his side. Steven walked up to him, “here you go. Courtesy of Rie,” he said, passing Andrew one of the cinnamon rolls he pilfered. That earned him the first genuine smile of the day from Andrew.

 

“Oh, yessss!! Thanks man. Look, I’m sorry about this morning, I was – “

 

He stopped mid-sentence as Adam walked in. Andrew cleared his throat, “uhm, anyway, thanks,” he said, lifting the cinnamon roll slightly, before taking a huge bite and turning back to his computer. Steven turned to Adam, trying to meet his gaze to communicate the sheer oddity of Andrew’s behavior, but Adam seem to be avoiding eye contact. So, Steven passed him his cinnamon roll, to which he just nodded in thanks, which is to be expected, really, because you know, it’s Adam.

 

The afternoon went by with the three of them working together with none of the efficiency and sense of camaraderie they have painstakingly developed over the years. None. Zilch. Nada. In fact, it was filled with stilted conversations and the palpable tension in the air was so thick, you could cut through it with a knife.

 

Something is clearly up with his boys. Something must have happened in the weeks he’d been gone – _“it was four days, Steven,”_ Adam’s voice corrected in his head.

 

_Sheesh. Fine. So, what could he have possibly missed in just those four days?_ His mind wondered. The point is, something had happened between Adam and Andrew, and Steven’s going to make it his mission to find out what it is and fix it. Because this shit cannot go on. Nope. Not on his watch.

 

**Andrew**

Andrew slumped down on his couch with Loki perched majestically on her throne that is his chest, lamenting about the crap-tastic outcome of acting on his feelings. He absently scratched behind Loki’s ears, cooing to her, asking, “that was really, REALLY stupid wasn’t it?”

“I made things weird. Now our friendship’s ruined and everything is just so fucked up.” He wished there was an undo button in real life, but obviously there isn’t, so he’s just so totally screwed. “I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me. I used to have more game than this.” Loki gave him a short mew and a deadpan look to convey that she does not agree with that sentiment. He rolled his eyes and said, “Okay, fine. Maybe I don’t. But I don’t think I read it wrong. I’m pretty sure he’s interested. Like, I was pretty sure that he likes me, likes me, you know?”

_Great. I’ve got it so bad for Adam I’ve started talking like a teenage girl,_ he thought.

_Because having an earnest heart to heart with a feline was not odd enough for you,_ Loki chimed in.

_That’s different. Cats are amazing – wait, what??_

He looked down at Loki, but she has jumped off his chest with a hiss and went wandering off with her tail waving elegantly, and Andrew wasn’t so sure, but under the ringing of the bells on her collar, the hissing sounded almost like, ‘ _Naive Midgardian child.’_

Before he could process that thought any further, his doorbell rang. Andrew swore under his breath. He just wasn’t feeling up to company right now. He groaned internally upon seeing none other than Steven Lim at his doorsteps, wearing a look on his face that reads: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. He went to shut the door on said face, but Steven quickly stuck his foot in the way, saying, “Wait! No, no, no, you’re not gonna do that. We are going to get shitfaced, then you are going to tell me what you did so I can help you fix it,” holding up a six-pack of beer he had in his left hand.

“Why do you assume _I_ did something? It could’ve been Adam,” he said, immediately going on the defensive.

“Yeah, Andrew, because Adam is the one more likely to stir shit up between the two of you,” Steven deadpanned.

“Oh, fuck you,” he retorted.

When he was done laughing Steven continued, “So come on, man. Are you gonna let me in or what?”

“Sure, come on in. But enter at your own peril. Loki still hates you,” he smirked.

Andrew relished the small sense of satisfaction he felt upon seeing the look of horror dawning on Steven’s face as he cautiously stepped into the apartment.

 

            They ended up ordering a disgusting amount of pizza, wolfing it down while Andrew brought Steven up to speed on the events that transpired in his absence. And despite his overly dramatic reactions, Steven turned out to be a pretty good listener.

            “Okay, so, you’re sure the signs are there, right? That he feels the same way?” Steven asked, mid-chew, like the heathen that he is.

            “Yeah, I think so? Also, don’t talk with your mouth full. What’re you, five?”

            Steven made a big show of swallowing before he continued, “So ask him again.”

            Andrew rolled his eyes at the goofball, “Were you not listening? He already said no.”

            “Yeah… But you said so yourself, there’s a good chance that he likes you back. So just ask him again. And again. And again. Until he says yes. You’re gonna wear him down eventually. Like that couple from The Big Bang Theory.”

            Andrew nearly snorted his beer at that. He didn’t, but it was a close call. “I don’t know if I should kick your ass for comparing me to Leonard Hofstadter or laugh my ass off to the fact that you just likened Adam to Penny,” he said, laughing, despite himself.

            “Yeah, yeah, laugh it off. The point still stands though. You should keep trying. Because now that I think about it, you and Adam just… fit. You guys would make a great couple. And I’ll be like your pseudo-son. But instead of having to fight for my custody after your break-up, I’ll just Parent Trap you guys into getting back together over and over again, for the rest of forever,” he said, wagging his eyebrows, an impish smile spreading across his face.

            Which promptly got wiped off by the cushion Andrew threw at it. Andrew loves his friend, he really does, but Steven’s mouth just comes up with the weirdest shit to say sometimes.

            “Hey!” Steven complained, pouting. He threw the cushion back at Andrew, which Andrew easily caught and returned to its rightful place.

            “Anyway, what do you say? I can help you come up with a game plan?”

            God help him, this might just be an alcohol-induced decision he’d come to regret in the morning, but all the same, Andrew found himself nodding in agreement.

            “Sure. Why the hell not?” he sighed, looking upwards, willing the power that be to channel some strength into him to deal with the utter humiliation that is sure to come.

 

**Steven**

           

Steven ended up crashing on Andrew’s couch, seeing as they were up most of the night strategizing for Operation Woo Adam – Andrew actually slapped him upside the head when he suggested the name. _We’re not calling it that, Steven, geez!_

            Heh. Whatever. Steven’s gonna keep calling it that in his head. He let out a huge yawn before getting up, stretching his limbs while surveying the mess they made last night. The clock on his phone reads 9.30, which means it’ll probably be an hour or two before Andrew wakes up. His friend tends to sleep in on the weekends.

            He went to the kitchen to grab a garbage bag to dispose of the pizza boxes, then rinsed out all the beer bottles and set it aside to be recycled before brewing a pot of coffee. Yeah, he knows he doesn’t have to, it’s not his house, but what can he say? Mama Lim raised him right.

            He’s kinda excited to see how things would pan out between Adam and Andrew. Boy is he in for one hell of a ride! Maybe he should keep some popcorn stocked at the office, so he could sit back and enjoy the show.

            The tantalizing aroma of coffee in the air ended that train of thought, but as Steven turned around from getting a mug from the cabinet, he was suddenly met with the sight of Andrew’s cat – who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere – perched right next to the coffee maker, scowling at him with her tail wagging in a threatening manner. She just sat there, scowling at him, not even reacting to the high-pitched shriek he let out – which Steven would deny to his dying day ever happened, sore throat be damned. He set the mug he was holding in a death grip carefully on the counter-top, calming himself down, grateful for once that Andrew sleeps like the dead. He looked back and forth between Loki and the coffee maker, guesstimating the odds of getting a cup of coffee unharmed. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not today. He’ll just have to wait for Andrew to wake up and deal with his evil incarnate of a cat.

            _Maybe I should go to the bakery across the street and get some bagels or something,_ he thought. He grabbed his jacket in the hallway, slipped on his shoes, which felt curiously damp – and heard a squelching sound. Huh. Weird. He took off his left shoe, picked it up to get a better look, and was met with the acrid scent of urine.

            “ ** _LOOOOOOKKIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!_** ”

            If the earlier ruckus in the kitchen didn’t wake Andrew up, Steven’s deafening scream of outrage certainly did.

 

**Andrew**

 

            Monday morning sees Andrew and Steven sneaking around in the office pantry, with Steven grumbling incessantly about his ruined sneakers, which, mind you, Andrew has already agreed to foot the dry-cleaning bill for.

            “Come on, man. Let it go, already. She’s just a cat, she doesn’t have the same intellectual capacity as humans do”, he said, which is a flat out lie, by the way, because his Loki is a genius and he knows it. But at this point, he would say _anything_ to get Steven to just shut his freaking pie hole.

            It was 8.50 am, and Andrew was making coffee in a custom-made mug he got that says ‘I Heart Cinnamon Rolls’ on it. He added cream and sugar to it, then held out a spoonful to Steven. He was still pouting like a child, but he has stopped whining, at least. “Alright, tell me if I got it right,” he said. He’s been watching Adam like a creep ever since he figured out he has feelings for the guy, so he knows exactly how Adam takes his coffee, but Steven’s the one who has actually tasted it before. Steven blew on the spoon before putting it in his mouth, and immediately pulled a disgusted face. “Yep, that’s exactly right.”

            Andrew placed the mug next to the plate of cinnamon roll and checked the time. It’s 8.53, so he’s got four minutes left. He took out the little manila card he had in his pocket and started writing.

            “Oohh I didn’t know you could do cursive!” said Steven, looking over his shoulder.

            “Sshh. Go be my lookout.”

            Once Steven has walked a further bit away, he continued writing. God, if this plan doesn’t work, he’s going to kill Steven in his sleep. He reread the card twice before propping it against the coffee mug, and both times it made him cringe. It read: _‘Favorite fuel to start your day. Eat up. I’m pretty sure you’re tired because you’ve been running through my mind all night.’_

            He stared at it for a second before thinking, ‘oh well, go big or go home, right?’ and decided to just go with it. He joined Steven at the doorway and dragged him to their workstations before he could change his mind.

 

**Steven**

            Steven’s been watching Andrew from the corner of his eyes while they work, and boy, his friend has been fidgeting all morning. It’s almost fun to watch his usually cool friend get all out of sorts like this. But really, Andrew’s got nothing to worry about. Steven’s pretty sure their plan was going to work. Amazingly enough, it was all Andrew’s idea. Steven just helped him polish it a little.

            He’s still pretty bummed that Andrew completely shut _his_ idea down though. He told Andrew that he should produce a sort of Buzzfeed confessional video, completely stripped, just him and a camera, where he would then proceed to declare his undying love for Adam and then ask him out. Grand gestures are romantic, right? Right?? But no, he won’t listen to Steven, because apparently that’s a little bit too over the top.

            Oh well, Andrew’s idea should work just fine, he thinks. Also, it’s very _him_ , so Adam would know it comes from the heart.

            Another loud sigh can be heard from his left and he briefly considered offering some comforting words, then decided against it. ‘Let him suffer,’ he thinks. He knows it’s particularly hard for the guy especially since Adam will be working with the Tasty team on the ‘Behind Tasty’ project for the next few days, so they won’t be able to gauge his reaction until Friday when they go out to shoot the Cocktail video. But he’s still a little annoyed about the whole Loki debacle, so Andrew’s just gonna have to deal with it.

            He’s kidding, of course. But he doubts anything he says will help, so he’s just going to focus on his work and not bother Andrew. He’s really looking forward to Friday, though. Friday’s going to be so much fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today’s mug is pastel colored, and on one side there was a picture of a cinnamon roll on a silver platter atop a velvet red cushion that was sat on a throne with his name on it, and on the other side, it had ‘Precious Cinnamon Roll Too Perfect for This World’ written on it. He hasn’t stopped smiling since he read it. Today’s card read: ‘Breakfast of Champions. For the champion who won my heart.’

**Adam**

            Adam was sitting at the counter, right elbow on the table top, leaning his cheek on his palm while he contemplates the sheer peculiarity of the past week. His left hand was absently stroking the fifth cinnamon-roll themed mug he had gotten in as many days, filled with coffee made just the way he likes it, a cinnamon roll on the side, and a little card with the most ridiculously cheesy line he has ever heard written on it.

            Today’s mug is pastel colored, and on one side there was a picture of a cinnamon roll on a silver platter atop a velvet red cushion that was sat on a throne with his name on it, and on the other side, it had ‘Precious Cinnamon Roll Too Perfect for This World’ written on it. He hasn’t stopped smiling since he read it. Today’s card read: _‘Breakfast of Champions. For the champion who won my heart.’_

            Sigh.

            Last week when Andrew tried to ask him out, he panicked and ran out on the guy. Once he finally got his wits about him, he actually concluded that Andrew somehow found out about Adam’s little crush on him and was playing a practical joke on him. He thought about it again and immediately rescinded his earlier conclusion, because he knows Andrew well enough to know that he would never be that cruel to anyone, much less his own best friend. But that could only mean that Andrew actually feels the same way about him, and that seems too good to be true to Adam.

            Maybe he found out about Adam’s crush on him, and then he latched on to the idea and somehow managed to convince himself that he likes Adam in that way too, when he really doesn’t? Yeah, that seems more logical, right? Totally. That’s totally the kind of nice guy Andrew is.

            Sigh.

            What does he do now? Maybe, if he continues to ignore his efforts, Andrew would eventually give up and forget about it? Yep, Adam’s just going to go with that plan. It follows the same pattern as his tendency to ignore a problem until it eventually goes away, so that’s great. That’s settled then.

            Now on to the next problem. How is he supposed to face Andrew today? They’re filming the Cocktail episode today, which means he’ll be in close proximity to Andrew and Steven all day. And they’ll be drinking. Alcohol tend to make people loose lipped. What if he gets a little tipsy and a little too honest around Andrew and just blurt out that he’s had feelings for the guy since the first month they started working together years ago?

            That’s not good.

            Adam took a long, deep breath in and exhaled slowly, trying to prevent the impending panic attack before it begins. Alright. He’s a big boy. He can handle this. He’ll just have to remember to take the smallest of small sips of the drinks they’re going to try today, and to use Steven as a buffer between him and Andrew. It’ll be fine.

            Using Steven as a buffer turns out to be harder than expected. Adam’s not sure what’s wrong with him, he’s usually an agreeable guy, but when they were getting in the car to head out to Good Times at Davey Wayne’s, he seemed adamant on getting Adam to sit next to Andrew. He actually had to beg Steven to sit between him and Andrew.

            During the ride over to their first stop, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from stealing glances at Andrew, who seems to be preoccupied with his notes on cocktail facts. When he looked up, their eyes met, and Adam quickly looked away, focusing on the other cars on the road, hoping against hopes that Andrew didn’t notice him staring.

            The yelp of surprise from Steven alerted him that Andrew has spilled his coffee, which meant that he definitely noticed Adam staring, and it made him uncomfortable to the point of being clumsy.

            Damnit.

            Adam’s going to have to avoid any sort of contact with Andrew for the rest of the day. He busied himself by fiddling with Steven’s mic, which was almost falling off of his shirt collar, to keep himself from engaging in their conversation.

            “You’re just going to have to let it dry out,” he heard Andrew say, before the conversation died out. When he looked up, Andrew was staring out the window, and Steven was smirking at him.

            “I see what you’re trying to do,” he whispered to Adam, “you’re trying to make Andrew jealous, aren’t you?”

            If his knuckles _accidentally_ knocked into Steven’s jaw a _little_ too hard, well, it was _totally_ because the car suddenly hit a bump in the road, and not because he had the sudden urge to wipe that stupid smirk of Steven’s face.

            Uh-huh. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

 

**Andrew**

            Steven is the spawn of Satan. He’s really been getting on Andrew’s nerves today. He practically swore to Andrew that he wouldn’t meddle, but that’s exactly what he’s been doing all day.

            First it was at the first bar, where they had their impromptu Never Have I Ever game. After a few rounds of innocent, non-compromising statements, Steven actually went with “Never have I ever fallen for my best friend,” and Andrew wanted to throw his drink in the asshole’s face. He had an honest to god vision of doing exactly that and storming off, but despite how satisfying that might’ve been, he had to keep his cool. Because he was in public, in his capacity as Buzzfeed’s employee, and because his mother taught him manners. And also, because Adam’s watching.

            But _boy_ was he tempted.

Then at the Pacific Seas, because the lights were dim and they found out they were going to drink from the same cup, Steven kept wagging his eyebrows suggestively at him while nodding towards Adam. “You know,” he started, his face schooled into a faux-innocence that Andrew just _knew_ wouldn’t bode well for anyone, “this would be a perfect drink to share on a first date. So what do you say, Adam? Wanna trade places? You guys can pretend I’m not here if you want.”

            It was dark, so Andrew couldn’t tell from the look on his face, but he was sure that Adam would do anything to be able to just leave the room, because that’s exactly how _he_ felt at that moment. Since he couldn’t do that, he settled for reaching under the table to pinch Steven’s thigh really, _really hard,_ whispering furiously, “Will you stop it, you little shit?? You’re freaking him out!”

            They finally get on with filming and tasting the scorpion bowl, and Andrew found himself rambling nonsensically about it and the décor of the bar to break the tension in the air brought on by Steven’s teasing. He couldn’t even remember what he was saying, but he hopes it made enough sense for them to be able to use it. If it doesn’t, well, they could just say that the drinks had started to get to him.

            They were heading to their final location of the day, which means it is time for them to share another trivia about cocktails. Steven had some written up on his phone, which funnily enough, they had taped up above the headrest of the front seat as a makeshift light. The blunder is easily remedied as Andrew had been doing some reading earlier about the medicinal properties of tonic water, which he happily shared with the rest.

            “Wow. I like that,” Steven interjected. “You know, things should have its purpose. Take for example – “

            “You, what’s _your_ purpose?” asked Andrew.

            “I was going to say _fashion_ , but since you’re asking…” he paused, taking a moment to consider his answer before continuing, “My purpose, _recently_ , seem to revolve somewhere around being a matchmaker, a couples’ therapist and a relationship counselor.”

            Okay, _seriously??_

            Wow.

Andrew normally considers himself a pretty easy going, non-violent guy, but Steven’s really bringing out some deep-seated homicidal tendencies in him today.

He’s just so done with all this bullshit. And its probably going to get even worse as Steven gets progressively more drunk. At this point, he’s just glad their show isn’t a live show, because this episode is going to require _a lot_ of editing.

He was actually looking forward to seeing Adam today. Maybe get a read on his chances at changing Adam’s mind about them dating. But Steven had to go and ruin everything by being just pure, unfiltered _Steven._

Thankfully, the rest of the night went by pretty smoothly. Mostly because Steven was completely mesmerized by the lavish £10, or rather by one Mr. Cash Black. Andrew and Adam shared knowing smiles as they watch Steven get absolutely caught up in the overall extravagance of the place while practically swooning over the charming bartender. Watching Steven in all his adorkable glory brought a sense of lightness to the otherwise tense atmosphere between him and Adam, and Andrew could almost forgive all the crap Steven pulled throughout their trips.

They went on with trying the Highland Park cocktail. While trying to describe the different notes in the drink for their audiences, they somehow wound up linking those different notes to each of them. Andrew couldn’t for the life of him figure out what possessed him to say what he said next. Maybe it was the fact that he finally felt at ease for the first time since they ventured out earlier this evening. Or maybe it was the ‘exclusive gentlemen’s club’ vibe he’s been getting from the place. Or it could be the cocktail itself that has made him so bold.

“Adam’s the $650 crystal glass that’s too precious for this world,” he said, then he winked at Adam.

Most of Adam’s face was obscured by the camera, so Andrew couldn’t tell for sure, but he’s pretty sure he got Adam flustered. He was looking everywhere but into the lens at Andrew, and when he finally looked up, Andrew thought he saw a hint of a blush from what little he could see of Adam’s face.

There was something about the way Adam keeps looking at him and then quickly looking away that sparks _something_ in him. Something that feels a little too much like hope. Yeah. For the first time this week, Andrew’s finally starting to let himself believe that maybe this _could_ work.

 

**Adam**

 

            Adam was startled awake by the incessant hammering on the walls that was accompanied by just this _really loud ringing_ that would not stop no matter how hard he wished it would. He groaned and stumbled out of bed, and oh wow, shit. He’s head is _pounding._

            He vaguely remembered the events of the previous day and the horrible, no good, very bad decision that came after. He had managed to drink the minimum amount while filming as planned, but once he got home, he went the complete opposite route. In his effort to numb his mind to keep from over-analyzing every minute detail of his interactions with Andrew throughout the day, he had decided to get stupid drunk.

And now he’s paying for it.

Ugh.

It was bad enough that they were just stiff and awkward around each other but add to that all of what he now believes was Steven’s genuine effort to ‘help’ Andrew, well, let’s just say Adam was very much grateful for his beard and for the fact that his face was obscured by the camera most of the time. Mostly for his beard though. He had never been happier about it’s ability to hide his blush than he was yesterday.

Oh, and apparently, the incessant ‘hammering’ that woke him up was actually someone knocking on his door. Whoever was at his door at ass o’clock in the morning was alternating between ringing his doorbell and knocking aggressively on the door.

Sheesh. Impatient, much?

 “Just a minute!” he called out.

“Delivery for Mr. Adam Bianchi?” the guy at the door said.

He signed off on the delivery in a daze and was left standing at his door with a paper bag in one hand and a stainless-steel travel mug in the other. He nudged the door close with his foot and blinked owlishly at the items in his hands.

Huh.

He was not expecting these today.

Upon closer inspection, he found that the mug had decals of cinnamon rolls and the phrase “Dem buns, dough” in neon colors on it. Adam snickered at that. Andrew and his puns. He can tell by the smell wafting from the bag that it contained a jumbo cinnamon roll from his favorite cafe and found himself grinning like a fool as he read what was written in sharpie on the bag itself.

_“I look at you, and I know love,_

_I look away, and I know nothing.”_

 

How did Andrew know he was a big fan of Christopher Poindexter? Then again, how did Andrew know every single thing he seems to know about Adam?

Adam closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the door. There’s a strange, overwhelming feeling blooming in his chest. A mixture of hope, longing, and… happiness? He wants so badly to accept what Andrew seems to be offering, but at the same time, he could think of a million reasons how things could go wrong if they took this, whatever _this_ was that was growing between them and took it beyond the line of friendship, and the thought alone makes it hard for him to breathe.

Combine that with his pounding headache and he just wants to crawl under the covers and never come out. But no. He’s going to do what he does best and compartmentalize. For now, coffee and food. He needs to cook something up after this cinnamon roll. The greasier the better. And then he’s going to spend the day binge watching Arrow and The Flash. Everything else, he will deal with tomorrow.

Because Adam is a pro at procrastination. ‘ _Heh. Andrew would love that,’_ he thought.

_Yep. Off to a great start, Adam. Good job!_

 

 

After four episodes in which he was mostly just staring vacantly into the tv, lost in his thoughts, Adam finally accepted that escapism through binge watching DC shows isn’t going to work. As much as he hates to admit it, it seems like some human interactions may be required here.

Sigh.

He grabbed his phone from the coffee table and started texting.

_Silentsoundguy: U busy? Wanna grab lunch?_

_Kitchenwizardxox: Sure. Usual place?_

_Silentsoundguy: Cool. Meet u there in half an hour._

 

He took a nice, long shower before heading out to meet Rie at their usual weekend hang out spot. When he got there, he found Rie already seated at a booth in the furthest corner of the place.

“You look terrible,” she said after he hugged her in greeting.

“Nice to see you too, Rie.”

“You boys had a little too much fun yesterday?”

“Did you order yet?” he asked, deliberately changing the subject.

Rie arched her eyebrow at that, clearly unimpressed, after which Adam spent an entire ten minutes flipping through the menu even though they both knew he was going to order the same thing he always does.

_No point delaying the inevitable,_ he thought, as he finally waved a waiter over. After their order was taken, Rie turned to him with a mischievous smile.

“So, a little bird told me you have a secret admirer. But it’s not really a secret, is it?” she said.

“That’s quite a nosy bird,” Adam retorted.

“Adam Bianchi, did you ask me to hang out just to practice being a snarky teenager?” she scolded him, although the smile she’s trying – and failing – to suppress tells him she’s not serious.

 The confusion and all of the complex feelings he’s been trying to bury since that morning suddenly resurfaces, and it must’ve shown on his face because Rie’s expectant look has now soften into one of concern.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

“Is he making you uncomfortable? Do you need me to tell him to stop? Maybe back off a little bit? I can –

“No!” he basically yelled, and then winced as he realized how loud he was.

“No?” Rie echoed, with an arched brow, surprised and amused at his reaction.

“I mean, it’s not that… I just, um…”

And so, while trying to rediscover how to coin words into sentences, Adam fumbled through telling Rie everything. And he means _everything._ Down to his stupid sappy crush on his mostly straight best friend. He even went as far as sharing his theory about Andrew’s motives.

“You think he convinced himself to have feelings for you because he found out _you_ like _him,_ and he doesn’t want to hurt you?” she asked when he’s done.

“Uh-huh.”

“You think he did _that_ and then also convinced himself to make the first move??” she added, volume steadily increasing.

“Yep.”

“You’re talking about _our_ Andrew, right? Our sweet, bluntly straight-forward, brutally honest Andrew?” And now Rie’s just looking at him with this look on her face that is just the right mixture of _I am so disappointed in you_ and _you’re an idiot._ Rie can be such an Asian mom sometimes.

“It’s the most logical conclusion!” he defended.

_‘It’s the most logical conclusion, he says. Gosh, I need a drink. Boys are ridiculous,’_ Rie muttered under her breath, and continued to do so in Japanese, much to Adam’s utter confusion.

“What’d you say?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Rie sighed deeply before continuing, “Okay, let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that you are right. What do you plan on doing now?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Just ignore him? He’ll give up eventually.”

“You don’t think continuing to ignore him would effect your friendship? Badly?” she asked.

“Because jumping into a relationship with him and then screwing it up wouldn’t?” he countered.

“Oh, _Adam,_ ” she sighed.

“Can I offer you some advice, as a friend? Sometimes the obvious answer _can_ be the right answer. It’s okay to want to be happy. It’s also okay to be afraid of it. But sometimes, sometimes taking a chance is worth it,” she said, before adding, “Get it? _Worth it!_ ” she sang, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Adam can’t help but smile at that. Rie’s sense of humor leaves a lot of room for improvement, but that was a pretty solid advice.

“Think about it, okay?” she asked. Adam nodded his assent.

“And once you’ve decided what you’re going to do about it, you have to let me know. Alright? Remember to tell me.”

“Why?” Adam asked.

“Because, I’m your friend,” she said.

It’s funny how she said friend like she meant _mother,_ but Adam nodded anyway.

They spent the rest of their lunch talking about everything and anything else. Adam asked Rie about her plans for the rest of the day and was surprised to find out that she’s going to be teaching a children’s baking class at a community center.

“I didn’t know you do that. Is that like for extra income, or something?” he asked.

“No, actually, I do this for free. I like children, and I’ve been wanting to do something to give back to the community, and since baking is what I do best, I thought, you know, why not a free baking class?” she replied.

“Hey, why don’t you come with me? It’ll help you keep your mind off things for a while?” she asked.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“No, of course not. Come to think about it, I could use an extra set of hands – and eyes. I’m doing a little bake-off between the kids today, you can help me keep an eye on them in case they get a little too competitive and forget to exercise caution in the kitchen. I mean, if you want to.”

“Really? Yeah, sure I’d love that. What’ll the winner get anyway?”

“Their very own electric mixer courtesy of Mr. McClenny. Blair came with me a few times to the class, and he loves the children. They’ve got him wrapped around their little fingers, it’s adorable,” she said, making Adam laugh.

 

 

Adam woke up bright and early on Sunday morning, feeling lighter than he had felt in weeks. It’s like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He decided to go out for a run since it’s a beautiful day out.

As he was running, his mind went back to the events of the previous evening. The children were, as Rie had told him, super _freaking_ adorable. It was quite an experience watching them and their itty-bitty hands using baking tools and equipment meant for adults. That combined with their wide-eyed innocence and sheer determination to not just win, but to complete their creation to the best of their ability, really pulled at his heartstrings. He supposes that would’ve been the point, if he were born female and had the appropriate body parts, that his ovaries would’ve exploded.

One kid in particular, had caught his attention throughout the evening. His name is Ben, and he’s the youngest in Rie’s class, a mere eight years old to his counterparts’ ten to twelve. He had chosen to make macarons and Adam watched with rapt attention as he whipped up his batter, got it into the oven and then went on to make the filling. When he took out his macarons from the oven, Adam’s heart sinks. Ben had done almost everything right, but the feet of his macarons have spread out sideways. From his experience in the Tasty kitchens, Adam knew that it was caused by the temperature of the oven being too hot. To his surprise, Ben had merely shrugged, set the tray aside, and calmly continued to make another batch from scratch.

In the end, he managed to get it done just in time, but didn’t get to plate and decorate them nicely. He didn’t win, and yet the boy was beaming proudly at his macarons. Adam went over to help him after Rie announced the winner and told the kids to clean up their stations.

“That was really tough, huh?” Adam asked him.

“Yeah, it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. But I think I almost got it in the end,” said Ben.

“Wait, you’ve never made them before?”

“Nope,” Ben said, popping the ‘p’.

“Why didn’t you choose something you already know how to make, since it’s a competition?” Adam asked again.

“Because I love macarons. I love that they can be in a lot of different colors and flavors. Also, I wanted to see if I could do it. And I did! I did do it,” he beamed happily.

“But you didn’t know that you could. It could’ve just as easily gone wrong. I know it didn’t, but it could have.”

“Yes… But I wouldn’t know for sure if I don’t at least _try,_ right?” he said, slowly and patiently, as though _he’s_ the adult and _Adam’s_ the kid he was explaining a difficult concept to.

Ladies and gentlemen, please let the record show that Adam Bianchi, executive producer, was schooled by an eight-year-old.

Before leaving for the evening, Ben had come up to Adam and handed him a paper plate with three of his macarons on it. It was a bright yellow, and Ben had used melted chocolate to pipe smiley faces on them. They were lemon flavored, and they tasted and looked like a bright ray of sunshine. _Just like Ben_ , Adam thought.

Adam had just turned around to run back towards his house when he decided that, yeah, he owed it to himself to at least try. So, he’ll just tell Andrew –

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit._

His racing thoughts were brought to a screeching halt, and he slowed to a jog before stopping to lean on a car parked at the sidewalk at the onset of yet another dilemma.

How is he supposed to do this? Should he… text? What is he supposed to say? Or should he just wait until Andrew outright asks him again? But when though? Because Andrew had resorted to sending him these gifts and not bringing this whole thing up at all when they’re actually face to face.

_Fuck._ Why is this so hard??

Social anxiety _sucks._

He continued his journey home at a much slower pace, feeling a lot less optimistic than he was when he woke up this morning. He was greeted at his doorsteps by a delivery boy.

Oh.

Adam spared a brief moment to wonder just how long Andrew was planning to keep this up, because at this rate, Adam was going to run out of space in his cabinets. 

Today’s mug is a stainless-steel travel mug in black, with white outline of a cinnamon roll and the phrase “Roll Lover” written on it. _Cute,_ he thought. The card is bigger than the usual post-its sized ones he got, and instead of a quote, there was a whole poem written on it:

_One date._

_Just One. Single. Date._

 

_If you really think, that your world was not rocked,_

_Then I would seriously, just let myself be mocked,_

_You can have my number blocked,_

_And you can keep your own heart locked._

_But I will never, ever,_

_Regret the fact that I went to your door_

_And knocked._

 

Adam started laughing so hard he almost cried. It was so terribly cheesy and just so _juvenile_ it was impossible _not_ to. The best part is, he’s pretty sure Andrew came up with this one on his own. Once he was able to stop laughing and regained his composure, Adam sat down to have his coffee and his cinnamon roll. He’s got his work cut out for him. He has to come up with a plan on how to tell Andrew, and then he’s got to work up the courage to actually execute that plan.

Sigh.

Later that day, he was trolling the ‘net, looking at random food videos on YouTube when something caught his eye. It was a review of a restaurant in Japan, showcasing a dish of omelette and fried rice. _Wow,_ Adam thought. That looks like it would taste amazing. He looked up other videos of the same restaurant and read articles about the dish – Omurice – he thinks, is what it’s called, and was hit by a sudden light bulb moment.

_Yes,_ he thought. That’s _perfect._

He texted Rie to see what she thinks about it and got three consecutive replies almost immediately.

 

_Kitchenwizard: Why can’t you just say yes like a normal person?_

_Kitchenwizard: But I gotta say, that would be interesting to watch._

_Kitchenwizard: It’s perfect. Go for it._

 

Alright. So that’s the plan, then.

Now he just has to go and tell Andrew and see what happens.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew brewed a fresh pot of coffee and sat down to work at his dining table. He’s got a lot of research to get done before tomorrow. Adam had challenged him to make a Japanese dish that he knows absolutely nothing about, but if he were to be able to replicate it, Adam had agreed to go out with him. Needless to say, there is a LOT at stake here.

**Andrew**

 

Washing and blow-drying cats is currently at the top of his “Most Difficult Shit to Get Done” list, Andrew decided as he kept a steady back and forth motion with the hair dryer over Loki’s back. Loki was scowling at him something fierce, but at least she’s finally stopped struggling. Every now and again she would flinch and snarl, especially when the hair dryer nozzle gets too close to her face, and Andrew finds himself considering whether he should invest in that ridiculous $400 Dyson hair dryer he saw the girls at the office trying out once. He remembered them telling him how quiet it was, but he doesn’t know if it’s worth that kind of money.

_Yes. You should get it. I deserve all the good things,_ Loki huffed.

Yeah. So, that is apparently a thing that happens now. After that first time about a week ago, Andrew had just accepted the fact that his Loki is telepathic and decided to just _go_ with it, because, well, he’s definitely not going to go around telling people about it to ask them if they’ve ever experienced such a thing. They’d think he’s certifiably insane.

“You know, this could’ve easily been avoided if you’d just learn to clean yourself like a proper cat,” Andrew said to her.

_Well I’m sorry, can_ you _lick the small of_ your _back??_ Loki snapped.

“Aww… You poor baby. You get even more irritable when you’re scared,” he teased.

_I am_ not _scared_. _I’ll have you know, I do not get scared. I’m just mildly concerned. Why does it have to be so loud? Is it in danger of exploding? See? Concerned. Not frightened._

“Oh yeah? What about that time I put that cucumber on the floor behind –

_We shall never speak of the cucumber incident ever again, human! Do you need another scratching??_ She asked haughtily, raising her paw with her claws fully extended.

Andrew burst out laughing at that. Loki, annoyed at him for not reacting appropriately, just ran off into the other room, making him laugh even harder. Of course, he _had_ to end up with a cat who is not just telepathic, but also has such a colorful personality.

Earlier that day Andrew was sitting on the couch, doing some work on his laptop when Loki came peeking at him through the doorway.

_Hey, human?_ _Quick question. How does one remove sticky residue from one’s fur?_

That made Andrew pause and look up. He narrowed his eyes at Loki and asked, “What did you do?”

_What?? Nothing. Just a hypothetical question._

“Loki. What. Did. You. _Do_?” He stood up and approached Loki, making her take a few steps back.

_The nice neighbor lady fed me condensed milk?_

“She _fed_ you condensed milk? Nope, try again, young lady”

_Well, she opened the can and just left it on the counter. What was I supposed to do? Just let it sit there??_

“Yes, that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. How’d you even manage to get it all over your body anyways? Because it looks like you rolled around in it,” he asked, finally close enough to see that Loki’s fur was almost completely matted down.

_Right. Funny story. The opening on the can was a bit too narrow, so I had to push it down to the floor so I can get at it. Then the lady came back to the kitchen, and I guess she was so happy to see me she started screaming, but it startled me, so I jumped and slipped into the milky puddle? I’ve licked most of it clean though, I just couldn’t get to that part before my tail._

As she was explaining this to him, Andrew continued to approach her, and likewise, Loki continued to step backwards. He knew all hell would break loose if he so much as mentions the ‘B’ word, but he didn’t see any other way around it. “C’mere, I’m gonna have to give you a bath –

_NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!_ Loki screamed before she bolted.

Andrew rolled his eyes skywards and sighed. _This is my life now,_ he thought, before he chased after his demon cat.

Now that _that’s_ done, he’s going to have to clean up the mess. Loki managed to escape the bathroom twice while he was bathing her, and she tracked water all over the hallway. He’s also in desperate need of a shower. He’s soaking wet and he smells like cat shampoo.

He was putting the hair dryer away and was about to get the mop when the doorbell rang. Imagine his surprise when he found that it was Adam.

“Adam, hi!” Andrew said, outwardly grinning, but on the inside, he was cursing his luck. _Of course,_ Adam would show up when the house is a mess and he looks ridiculously unkempt.

“Come on in,” he said.

“No, no, here’s fine. I won’t take long. ‘Sides, it looks like you’re in the middle of something,” Adam said, gesturing at his soaked shirt.

_Fuck,_ Andrew thought. “Yea, I was just…” he began, pointing backwards towards his apartment, “Loki,” he shrugged by way of explanation.

“Ahh… I see,” Adam said. Then he held up a card, and Andrew recognized it immediately. It was the card he sent Adam this morning. “This is terrible,” Adam said bluntly, and it startled a laugh out of Andrew.

“I tried,” he shrugged. An awkward silence descended upon them, so Andrew cleared his throat and asked jocularly, “Did you really come all the way here just to tell me my poem sucked?”

“Oh right. About that, I umm, I have a proposition,” Adam said.

“Oh?” Andrew replied, intrigued. He listened carefully as Adam spoke, eyebrows rising higher and higher as he went on.

Huh. Interesting.

“So? You up for it?” Adam asked.

“Bring it on,” Andrew replied, and they shook on it, after which he stood there watching as Adam walked away until his silhouette vanished from his view.

That was not what he was expecting. Not at all.

 

* * *

 

 

Andrew brewed a fresh pot of coffee and sat down to work at his dining table. He’s got a lot of research to get done before tomorrow. Adam had challenged him to make a Japanese dish that he knows absolutely nothing about, but if he were to be able to replicate it, Adam had agreed to go out with him. Needless to say, there is a _lot_ at stake here.

After watching the video that Adam had sent him the link to, Andrew felt a strong urge to slam his head on the table, _repeatedly_. This is going to be impossible. Let it be known that Andrew Illnyckyj is not one who would back down from a challenge, _ever_. It might be due to some primitive male instinct from ancient times, or just his gigantic ego, but the point is, he does not back down. Especially not when the stakes are this high.

Failure is not an option either. Failure would mean losing any chance of – actually he doesn’t know what failure to do this would entail. He’d asked Adam earlier, “What happens if I can’t do it?” And Adam had just shrugged his shoulders. Andrew found that somewhat ominous.

But this omelette rice thing, it looks almost impossible. Andrew knows his way around the kitchen, sure, but he does not claim to be an expert. He’s never made fried rice before, for one, and there’s also the fact that the jiggly omelette thing looks like it took years of practice to perfect. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and groaned out loud, only to suddenly feel Loki rubbing up against his legs.

_Don’t fret, human. It’ll be alright. There, there, have some therapeutic purring._

Andrew released a slight chuckle at that, “Oh, are we done sulking now?” he asked.

_I’ve decided to be the bigger person and forgive you,_ she said, before jumping on his lap and rubbing her head against his chest.

“Right. You’re just hungry again, aren’t you?” he asked, calling her bluff.

_Well, who else is going to feed me, human? I don’t think the nice neighbor lady likes me very much anymore. Her windows are all locked now. I don’t even know what I did to deserve that._

Andrew could think of a reason or two. Maybe he should enlighten her?

“Alright, alright. Let’s go get you your food,” he said instead, already standing up with Loki in his arms to head to the kitchen where her cat bowl is. He opened a can of wet food and poured it into her bowl. As he turned to leave, Loki called him.

_Hey, human?_

“Hmm?”

_Nothing worth having comes easy._

Huh.

For a long moment, Andrew just stood there, understandably astounded that he was just given profound advice. From a _cat._ “Thanks sweetheart. I’ll keep that in mind,” he finally said.

_As you should. Run along now, I can’t eat with you gawking at me like that._

* * *

 

 

 Andrew was pacing back and forth, trying to calm his nerves as the rest of the team set up for the shoot at the Tasty set. Yeah, that’s right, did he forget to mention they were going to film this entire thing? On the plus side, they get to do this entirely personal thing on the company’s time and budget. And if the video gets a lot of views, they could add it to their portfolio, too. But on the other hand, it means there is an office full of people to watch him fail.

He stole a glance at Adam, who was busy setting up the cameras, and took a deep, fortifying breath. _Alright, Illnyckyj, eyes on the prize. You got this,_ he thought.

And so, they began. On his very first attempt, Andrew had personally rebutted the infamous theory that double-yolked eggs means good luck by completely fucking up those eggs. He tried changing up his methods in the next few attempts, to no avail.

By the sixth attempt, his self confidence was waning. There’s only so many times you could mess up before self-doubt comes creeping in. He’s starting to think that maybe Adam doesn’t actually feel the same way about him. What if this is just his way of rejecting Andrew, without actually _rejecting_ him? _Well, if that’s the case, then that makes this_ twice _as humiliating,_ Andrew thought, slamming the pan he’s holding on the work surface, _hard,_ to the surprise of everyone around him.

“Sorry,” he apologized halfheartedly.

After the twelfth attempt, they were left with the last three eggs. Which means the next attempt would be the thirteenth and final one. Rie came by to offer some much-needed moral support, although it did nothing to chase away the dark, gloomy cloud that has formed over his head.

_Here goes nothing,_ he thought as he began. Somehow, he finally managed to get it right. But the end result doesn’t look even a quarter as good as the one in the video. Being the perfectionist that he is, Andrew considers it a complete and utter failure. He’s exhausted, both physically and mentally, he’s frustrated, and he’s sweating like a pig. He wants nothing more than to take a nice, long shower and mend his wounded pride in private.

“You got the texture right,” Adam said as he took a bite.

_Oh, great. Pity points. Just what I need,_ he thought.

“I don’t think I did. It could be creamier,” he said.

They wrapped up the video and everyone went on with their work. Andrew decided to take a quick bathroom break before cleaning up. When he came back from the toilet and sees Adam still nibbling on the stupid omelette, something in him just snapped. He went over to Adam and grabbed the plate from him.

“Will you stop eating it, already? It’s bad. And I know you hate it. If you think eating it would make me feel better, well you thought wrong.”

“Andrew!” Adam exclaimed. “I –

“No, you know what, just don’t. You could’ve just let me down easy, you know? I would’ve understood. I would’ve gotten the point. Instead of pulling this entire charade to avoid going out with me –

“That is _not_ what I was trying to do!” Adam defended.

“Isn’t it? _Really?_ ”

“Drew, please, I –

“Just save it.” Andrew practically threw the plate onto the counter before walking out on Adam. He’s in desperate need for some fresh air, he decided.

 

* * *

 

 

**Adam**

 

Adam was just sitting in his apartment moping, when there was a knock on his door. A look through his peephole revealed it to be Rie, and _fuck._ Movie night with the girls. He completely forgot. _I guess it’s too late to cancel now,_ he sighed before opening the door.

“Sorry,” Rie said, “I forgot my keys. Niki’s on the way, she’s just stopped to get some ice cream.” Adam had given the two of them a key to his apartment, just in case of any emergencies ages ago. It had come in handy once, when he lost his own set of keys, god knows where.  

They went to set up in the living room. Rie finally got a good look of his face and asked him, brows furrowed, “are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” he answered, before turning to get some blankets.

Before he could get away, Rie grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Are you lying to me?” she asked again, pointedly.

“Yes,” Adam sighed dejectedly.

“Hey, come on. Talk to me. It might make you feel better,” she said, pulling him to the couch. Adam doesn’t think he could get through this while maintaining eye contact with his friend, so he decided, _screw it,_ and laid down with his head on Rie’s lap, before telling her what had happened after the shoot.

And that is exactly how Niki found them when she let herself in fifteen minutes later, with Adam looking to be on the verge of tears and Rie running her fingers through his hair soothingly. She took one look at them, set the ice cream down on the coffee table, rolled up her sleeves, and then she crossed her arms, “Alright, who do I have to kill?” she asked.

Rie brought Niki up to speed, after which Niki solemnly decided, “I’m going to kill Andrew.”

“No. He didn’t do anything wrong,” Adam finally chimed in. “He thought I was leading him on. That I never wanted to date him. He thought I issued the challenge on purpose just to humiliate him. You should’ve seen his face, Niki. He was furious.”

“Well then, why didn’t you tell him the truth?” she asked.

“I tried. He wouldn’t listen. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Let’s just watch the movie, alright?”

 

* * *

 

 

**Andrew**

 

It’s been just over a week since they shot the Omurice video, and about five days after they aired the video on YouTube. Andrew still hasn’t gotten over the fact that it reached more than a million views. Adam did such a great job editing it, none of Andrew’s many outburst and temper tantrums (yes, he’s man enough to admit that he was acting overly childish that day) made it into the video.

After cooling off and clearing his head, it didn’t take Andrew long to figure out that he has _royally_ fucked up. Steven agrees too and had given him quite a yelling after Andrew relayed to him the events of that day.

He’s not sure how to fix this, to be honest. Adam’s been avoiding him like the plague ever since, volunteering his services to projects that Andrew is decidedly not involved in. Not only that, every time they ran into each other at the office, Adam would turn the complete opposite direction.

Sigh.

What does he do now?

And to think, all this mess was caused by that stupid om –

_Omelette!_ He thought. Could he pull it off? He doesn’t know, but he’s going to damn well try. He drafted a lengthy, hopefully convincing email to the restaurant’s management and attached the link to their video. And now all he has to do is wait. If they’re willing to let him do this, all he has to do is pitch the idea to Buzzfeed’s management team to get the approval and the funding required. No big deal, right?

Sigh.

Andrew’s beginning to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for grandiose gestures portrayed in rom-coms now. He’s always thought they were ridiculous. What fool he was.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Okay,” Adam damn near whispered, because Andrew’s face is dangerously close to his, and his pulse is freaking racing, so he doesn’t trust his voice at that moment. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “So, not a Worth-it video?”
> 
> “Nope,” Andrew replied, popping the ‘p’.
> 
> “The itinerary?”
> 
> “Completely made up.”

**Andrew**

 

A few days later, and Andrew was waiting with bated breath for Rie to come out of her meeting with the management team. He had gotten a positive response from Kichi-Kichi Restaurant within a few hours of sending that email, that read:

_The management of Kichi-Kichi is pleased to inform you that we would be honored to be featured in one of your YouTube videos. Our very own Chef Motokichi Yukimura himself will be guiding you through the entire process of making our famous Omurice._

Then, at the end of the email, there was a footnote in Japanese by Chef Kichi himself that according to Rie, basically translates to: _Don’t you worry, lover boy. We’ll get you your happy ending._

Yeah. So, Andrew might’ve included some minor details in his email about him and Adam’s little ‘situation’ to try to appeal to their romantic side. Thankfully, it had worked in his favor.

It had taken him an entire day after that to draft a proposal and pitch it to the management team, at which point he had enlisted the help of Rie to put in a good word for him. The door creaked, and Andrew jumped to his feet. When Rie just looked at him with a blank expression, he faltered.

“So, it’s a no go, then?” he asked, to which Rie responded by giving him a big smile and two thumbs up, “We’re going to Japan!”

Andrew was so relieved he could scream. He settled for giving Rie a big, tight hug, saying ‘thank you’ over and over again.

“No problem,” she said, “Just don’t screw this up,” she warned.

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

* * *

 

 

He’s been standing there for what feels like hours, but in reality, was probably just a few long minutes, steeling himself before finally stepping up to ring the doorbell. The door opened, and when he saw how Adam’s face fell as he realized who was at his front steps, Andrew’s stomach dropped.

Adam stepped outside, closing the door behind him before folding his arms around himself, shoulders hunched, seemingly trying to make himself look smaller, and Andrew _hates_ that he was the one who caused that.

“Andrew,” he began, “what’re you doing here?”

Andrew swallowed the lump that was starting to form in his throat before saying, “I came to apologize. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I definitely shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m sorry, Adam. I really am.”

“It’s okay,” Adam replied in a low voice, glancing briefly at his face before shifting his gaze back to the ground.

“No, it’s not. It’s really not. But I want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m hoping one day we could get past this and go back to the way things were before any of this. I don’t want to lose our friendship over this.”

“Me neither.”

They smiled softly at each other, and Andrew almost forgot the other reason he was there in the first place. “Oh, hey, there was something else I needed to tell you. It’s about work,” he began.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda short notice, but we need to go to Japan day after tomorrow to shoot a Worth It episode,” he said.

“Are you serious?” Adam asked him, eyes wide in surprise, “How long?”

“About three to four days, I think? So, yeah. I just wanted to give you a heads up on that. I’ll send you the itinerary later,” he said.

“Okay.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then,” Andrew said, before waving Adam goodbye and leaving.

 

* * *

 

 

Andrew had his suitcase laid out on the bed, contents of which were only his toiletries bag and some sleepwear. He’s currently frantically searching through his closet for something appropriate to wear in Japan.

_Are we moving?_ Loki asked as she walked in, which, to be fair, is a valid question considering all the clothes strewn all over the floor and the bed.

“Nope. Just a short trip,” he answered.

_Ooh_ _... A vacation! Where are we going?_

“You’re not coming with me. It’s a work trip.”

Loki released an audible gasp that made Andrew pause from choosing between a red shirt and an olive one. _You’re leaving me??_ She asked plaintively.

“It’s only for five days, a week at most.”

_Then why can’t I go with you?_

“I can’t take you, Loki, I’ll be working.”

_You hate me!!_ Loki exclaimed before she ran off.

Andrew sighed and shook his head then went back to the task at hand: packing. He lasted for no more than one minute before he caved and went looking for Loki. He found her curled on the floor, in the corner between his couch and the walls. After some tricky maneuvering, he managed to crawl into the space to settle on the floor next to her. “This is cozy,” he began, which earned him a mere sidelong glance.

_Is it because I’ve been bad?_

“Oh, _honey,_ I’m not deliberately leaving you because of something you did. I really do have to work. I’ll come right home after that,” Andrew explained.

_Did you know felines can only last about three days without food and water?_ Loki asked.

“So _dramatic_. I’m not planning on starving you, you know.”

_But who else is going to feed me if you’re not here?_

“Your Uncle Steven will be staying with you while I’m gone,” Andrew said. Loki’s ears perked up at the revelation.

_He’s staying here? Where will he sleep?_

“My room, I guess,” Andrew shrugged. “See? No one’s going to let you starve. Steven’s going to feed you, give you water, play with you, he’ll even help bathe you –

_No! No baths!!_

Andrew snickered at that. “Well you better behave yourself, then. Can you do that?”

_No promises._

Andrew sighed. “I don’t get it. Why do you love tormenting him so much?”

_You have your hobbies, I have mine. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?_

Well, at the very least, Loki going back to acting like her normal devious self tells Andrew that she’s no longer upset about him leaving.

 

 

* * *

 

**Adam**

 

They were on the plane on the way to Japan, and Adam was rereading his itinerary, trying to make sense of their plans. When he got to the airport that morning, he immediately noticed that something was up. Instead of their usual party of five – Steven, Andrew, Annie, Matt and himself – he was met with Andrew, Matt and Rie. He could understand Rie showing up instead of Annie since they’d probably need her to be their tour guide/translator in Japan, but Steven’s absence is highly suspicious.

Rie told him that Steven had a family emergency and had to go back to Malaysia, but Adam calls bullshit on that. Couldn’t they postpone this trip if that was true? The entire Worth-it series is practically Steven’s brainchild, so him not being there for their very first episode abroad is kind of ridiculous. He has so many questions and no one to ask them to. Matt has his nose buried in a book and Rie keeps changing the subject. She’s been regaling him with stories of her childhood in Japan, and she seems very excited to be showing them around her home country that Adam couldn’t bring himself to be mad at her.

He could ask Andrew, but he looked so exhausted and had fallen asleep within ten minutes after the plane took off. Adam decides to just let it go for now and just be in the moment. Rie’s excitement seems to be rubbing off on him, and he ended up asking her a ton of questions about the places they were going to visit.

By the time they touched down it was already quite late, so they checked in to the hotel, dropped off their bags and went out for quick bite before retiring for the night. Adam’s really glad he’s bunking with Rie this time. He’s not quite ready to be in too close a proximity to Andrew just yet. What with their friendship being as shaky as it still was at the moment.

He spent most of the night tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, both due to the unfamiliarity of a bed that is not his own, and also because of something Andrew said to him a few days ago that keeps running through his mind.

_I’m hoping one day we could get past this and go back to the way things were before any of this._

Does that mean Andrew wants to go back to just being friends? Has Adam really cosmically screwed things over that Andrew just decided to throw in the towel?

Those were a few of the worrying thoughts he pondered over before finally succumbing to exhaustion and falling asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning after breakfast, they headed to their first destination in Kyoto. Adam vaguely remembers the landmarks they were supposed to pass through from his google search when he was preparing for the trip, and he feels like they were headed in a different direction. But then again, Rie’s obviously the expert here, so maybe she’s taking them through a shortcut or something.

They walked by a row of shops and through a small alley when Rie announced, “This is it.” Adam looked up to the signboard and saw that it says “Kichi-Kichi”, which is not the name of the place they were supposed to go to as per the itinerary. Also, that name sounds oddly familiar. He walked over to where Rie and Andrew were looking through the menu placed by the door and stopped short.

There was a picture of Omurice displayed on the menu. The very same one that he had challenged Andrew to make a couple of weeks ago. His eyes darted from Matt, Rie and Andrew before settling on his feet.

“Is someone finally going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

Matt cleared his throat then said, “We’re going to head inside and talk to the staff,” then pulled Rie inside with him.

When he heard the door close shut behind them, Adam finally looked up at Andrew.

“Andrew, what? What is happening?”

Andrew opened his mouth then closed it a couple of times before letting out a nervous laugh. “Funny,” he began, “I had this whole speech prepared for this moment, but I can’t seem to remember a word of it.”

He stepped closer to Adam and said, “I guess what I’m trying to say is, this is me asking for a second chance? You want me to replicate the Omurice, so I’m going to do it, and do it well. I’m going to _earn_ that date.”

“Drew, you didn’t have to go this far.”

“But I want to. I want to prove to you that I’m serious about this. About _us._ Let me do this, okay?” Andrew asked, hands gripping Adam’s shoulders.

“Okay,” Adam damn near _whispered_ , because Andrew’s face is dangerously close to his, and his pulse is freaking _racing_ , so he doesn’t trust his voice at that moment. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “So, not a Worth-it video?”

“Nope,” Andrew replied, popping the ‘p’.

“The itinerary?”

“Completely made up.”

“I hate you,” he said, playfully glaring at Andrew.

 “No, you don’t,” Andrew smirked. Andrew looked into his eyes and his gaze turned serious. He was leaning closer and closer, and Adam thought his heart might just burst out of his chest. Was Andrew really going to –

“Guys!”

The door opened so suddenly that Andrew and Adam jumped apart as if they were children caught doing something they shouldn’t have, to Rie’s utter amusement. She smiled knowingly at them before saying, “They still need some time to get everything set up. Maybe we could pick a spot outside to shoot an intro.”

 

* * *

 

 

They found a little bridge not too far from the restaurant that Adam thought would be perfect for the video. Apparently, he was the one calling the shots. Andrew and Rie had told the Buzzfeed management team that this entire thing had been Adam’s idea, Andrew arguing that it was because Adam _had_ challenged him to do it in the first place, so he’s going to be the lead producer for this video.

As they began shooting, he zoomed the camera to show only Andrew’s face.

“Okay, so here we are. A while ago, my friend Adam challenged me to make a Japanese omelette called Omurice for a video. I did it sort of okay, not really, but there’s one guy in particular, in Kyoto, Japan, that makes the most perfect, awesome looking one. After our first video went viral, we reached out to him and asked if we could feature him in a follow up video to show our audiences how he makes his version of the Omurice. And he had said ‘If you come to Japan, I would teach you how to make it myself.’ So, guess what?” Andrew said, as Adam zoomed out to show their chosen background in the shot as well as Rie, who had been standing next to Andrew the whole time, “We’re in Kyoto, I’m here with Rie again, and I’ve never been more scared in my life,” Andrew finished.

“Aww, don’t worry,” Rie said, “he’s a nice guy.”

“Let’s go,” Andrew said.

Then Adam recorded them walking back towards the restaurant and included shots of the entrance of the place for good measure. Once he got Chef Kichi and Rie fitted with their mics, Adam went to help Andrew with his.

“Are you nervous?” he asked quietly.

“You have _no idea_ ,” Andrew sighed.

“I think you’ll do great.”

“I know I will. I’ve got my eyes on the prize,” Andrew said, looking Adam square in the eyes. Adam felt his face heating up instantly at that, so he murmured a quick ‘good luck’ to Andrew before quickly heading to stand behind the camera.

Before they began, Chef Kichi had said something to Rie in Japanese while pointing at Matt, and when Rie replied she kept pointing at Adam, making them both turn to Rie, wide-eyed, waiting for an explanation.

“He asked me if Matt was the one Andrew was trying to impress with the dish, so I told him, no, Adam’s the one Andrew’s going for,” she said, giggling, making Matt laugh. Adam scratched the back of his neck and bowed his head down in embarrassment.

They start out with Chef Kichi demonstrating how he makes the Omurice, giving Andrew quite a bit of pointers every now and again. When he was done, he gave the dish to Andrew to taste. Adam watched as his eyes widened in surprise at the first bite, only to be surprised himself when Andrew called him.

“Adam, come and try it,” Andrew said. Adam went to him and reached for the spoon, but Andrew beat him to it, and held up a spoonful of the Omurice to feed it to him. That is quite a common occurrence in their Worth-it videos, and yet it felt completely different.

“That’s really good,” he said.

“Right? So now you have a benchmark,” Andrew said. “Oh, you’ve got some demi-glaze on your beard, here, let me get it,” he continued, before hooking Adam’s chin up with his index finger and wiping it off with his thumb. The moment felt entirely too intimate, Adam almost forgot there were other people in the room with them. He took a quick glance around to find that they were looking everywhere but at Andrew and him, seemingly trying to give them some semblance of privacy, then he turned back to find Andrew smiling softly at him, and it made his heart flutter like butterfly wings.

Adam spent the rest of filming being completely in awe of Andrew’s dedication and determination. This man, his best friend, had gone through all this trouble for _him,_ and the thought alone made him feel an overwhelming sense of love and appreciation that is almost too big for his heart to contain.

Andrew kept looking towards him the entire time, and Adam finds himself holding his gaze while smiling reassuringly. His anxiety also seems to evaporate slowly, and he finds himself walking up to Andrew every now and then to wipe the sweat off his forehead, not giving a damn about the chorus of “Aww” from Matt and Rie. He’s very grateful that he’s Lead Producer, because it means that he’s the one giving the final editorial approval for this video. There’s going to be a lot of private moments in this video that Adam would like to _keep_ private, those are not for public consumption, thank you very much.

 In the end, Andrew’s Omurice, as Adam had confidently predicted, was a success. Chef Kichi handed the plate back to Andrew after tasting it, wagging his eyebrows and gesturing towards Adam, and he noticed Andrew taking a deep breath before stepping towards him and feeding him.

“Good?” Andrew asked him, his voice low. Adam nodded, and they both looked down bashfully as the rest of them clapped and cheered.

_Yep,_ Adam thought, _that is definitely getting edited out._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovelies!! Thank you for reading my humble fic.
> 
> So, for the purpose of this fic, I'm ignoring the fact that there's a year long gap between Andrew's first attempt at making the Omurice and his lesson from Chef Kichi in Japan. We'll assume it happens post-haste because Andrew's just that determined to show Adam how much he WANTS Adam.
> 
> Also, instead of the restaurant reaching out to Buzzfeed, I turned it around and made it so Andrew's the one who approached the restaurant, because, you know, grand gestures and all that jazz.
> 
> Enjoy!


End file.
